The road to revolution

Fulgencio Batista & dictatorship

Dictator of Cuba from 1952 to 1959

He

ran for president in 1952 and, facing defeat, led a

military coup that pre-empted the election.

Suspended the constitution and revoked political

liberties

Aligned himself with the wealthy land owners

(mostly sugar plantations)
Stagnated

economy, rich got richer, poor got poorer

Dictatorship

Due to his oppressive regime, student riots and

protests were quite common
Resulted

in tighter censorship of the media

Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities

Carried

out wide spread violence, torture and public

executions on enemies of the government.

Up

to 20000 people were killed this way.

1956

"Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years

... and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police
statedestroying every individual liberty. Yet our aid to
his regime, and the ineptness of our policies, enabled
Batista to invoke the name of the United States in support
of his reign of terror. Administration spokesmen publicly
praised Batistahailed him as a staunch ally and a good
friendat a time when Batista was murdering thousands,
destroying the last vestiges of freedom, and stealing
hundreds of millions of dollars from the Cuban people,
and we failed to press for free elections.

John F. Kennedy, October 6 1960 in the midst of his

campaign for presidency.

US Support

Batista was very anti-communist

As

such, the US provided his regime with financial,

logistical and military support for several years

US capitalist interests
In

order to not only increase his own wealth but to

move himself socially up the ranks in Cuba, Batista
gave lucrative deals in hotels, oil, business, etc. to US
multinational companies.

At the beginning of 1959 United States

companies owned about 40 percent of the Cuban
sugar landsalmost all the cattle ranches90
percent of the mines and mineral concessions80
percent of the utilitiespractically all the oil
industryand supplied two-thirds of Cuba's
imports.

John F. Kennedy

A Better Cuba?
Policies - first 2 years
Eight

hour working day

Annual holidays
Sick pay
12 weeks paid maternity leave
However,

while he was doing this, he was

undermining Cuban democracy
Corruption

in the government
Opening Cuba up to mobsters

 Batista

negotiated deals and relationships

with the American Mafia
They

controlled the drug, prostitution and

gambling businesses in Havana (capital of Cuba)

Drugs,

were so common in Havana at the time

that one American magazine in 1950
proclaimed "Narcotics are hardly more difficult
to obtain in Cuba than a shot of rum. And only
slightly more expensive.

Havana

became known as the Latin Las Vegas

Slum (bohio) dwellings in

Havana, Cuba in 1954, just
outside Havana baseball
stadium. In the background
is advertising for a nearby
casino.

Constantino Arias' photo titled

Ugly American, showing a 1950s
Batista-era tourist in Havana,
Cuba

Problems in Batistas Cuba.

Brothels flourished. A major industry grew up around

them; government officials received bribes, policemen
collected protection money. Prostitutes could be seen
standing in doorways, strolling the streets, or leaning
from windows. One report estimated that 11,500 of them
worked their trade in Havana. Beyond the outskirts of the
capital, beyond the slot machines, was one of the
poorest, and most beautiful countries in the Western
world.

David Detzer, American journalist, after visiting Havana

in the 1950s

Nearly "all aid" from the U.S. to Batista's

government was in the "form of weapons
assistance," which "merely strengthened the
Batista dictatorship" and "completely failed to
advance the economic welfare of the Cuban
people."Such actions later "enabled Castro and
the Communists to encourage the growing belief
that America was indifferent to Cuban aspirations
for a decent life.

Earl T. Smith (former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba,

1960